1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, namely variant Creutzfeld-Jakob Disease (vCJD).
2. Description of the Related Art
The neuropathology of Creutzfeld-Jakob disease, as for other prion diseases, manifests itself as a characteristic spongiform appearance of the brain tissue, neuronal cell death in the central nervous system, accompanied by astrocyte proliferation and in some cases the deposition of amyloid plaques. Characteristic to all prion diseases is the accumulation in the brain of an altered, disease-associated form of the normal prion protein (PrPC) represented as PrPSc. Four types of PrPSc are associated with human prion disease. Of these, type 4 is associated only with variant CJD (vCJD) which came to light in the UK in 1996. It is believed to have arisen from the consumption by humans of BSE-infected beef. No samples from other prion diseases have shown a type 4 profile.
The difficulties of diagnosis of vCJD, have led to the need for further methods to be developed.